L-R: Operations Director, Rob Pullen; Managing Director, Mat Llewellyn; Marketing Manager, Elaine Edwards. AHEAD OF THE CURVE MHM has been exploring alternative power options for some time.
With a larger team and a renewed focus, MD Mat Llewellyn discusses recent trading and where the company is heading next.
M
at Llewellyn undoubtedly runs a tight and friendly ship. I wasn’t quite
expecting to meet so many of the crew when I went to its Port Talbot HQ recently, but that only made for a more enjoyable visit and better photo opportunities.
Mat, meanwhile, had turned up mob-handed, along with Operations Director Rob Pullen, trusted scribe Graham Crisp, new Marketing Manager Elaine Edwards and MHM Chairman/Industry polymath (and father) Josh Llewellyn, who turned up just to say hello. At times I felt that I was the subject of the interview…
Mat and I first met on the ‘Innovation Trail’ at EHS 2020, although 18 months and a global pandemic have transpired since. A fitting question for starters, then – how’s it been?
“It was certainly a new experience for us and it was the first recession I’d faced as a company director,” he begins. “We watched Boris’ announcement on the Friday, then Rob and I were on the phone to the HAE the following Monday. Plant & tool hire was soon classified as a key industry, so we kept
working as a skeleton staff. All our engineers remained, but we kitted out some of our hire desk controllers, sales and parts teams with laptops so they could work from home.
“Prior to COVID we had planned to step- change the business and build our sales team. We recruited an extra sales team member at the start of lockdown and a further five staff later that year. We took a gamble, but we knew that this was an ideal opportunity to put MHM in a stronger position competitively. We now have a team covering the whole of the UK and our revenues have never been stronger.”
Did the pandemic also provide you with a bit more time and space to think about the business?
“Because we also rehire equipment we’ve always been conscious of the need for fleet management, which I think is absolutely imperative. We’ve worked with a Danish telematics company for a number of years, but we’ve also used lockdown to work on Syrinx and improve our systems. Lockdown gave us the time to think about the business
and our marketing goals, and to prioritise what we should be doing next. Digitalisation came first and growing the team was our next focus. So far we have achieved both.”
MHM remains a relatively young company, along with a sprinkling of well-placed old hands. Even so, it competes in the same space as longer established players. What challenges does that pose?
“One of the things we continue to struggle with is communicating exactly what we’re about,” Mat explains. “We’ve always been known for our lights, we’re progressing well with power, but fluid storage is still a battle for us. Also, our three different divisions (new equipment sales, used equipment sales and rehire) causes a bit of confusion because it’s so unique. We renamed the company to ‘MHM Group’, because we felt we’d outgrown the ‘MHM plant’ name, and we’ve tried to differentiate the business.
Elaine has been redrafting our marketing, she’s looking at our social media and we’ll have a brand new line of literature ready for live events and the Executive Hire Show.”
32 Executive Hire News - September 2021
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